Wednesday, June 1, 2011

That's what lawyers for Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano are hoping to convey in this series of snapshots from the murdering mob boss' family photo album, which show Basciano as a happy-go-lucky youngster, a doting daddy and loving husband.
In one photograph from happier times, the man now facing the death penalty for ordering a mob hit poses with an arm around then-wife Angela cradling their newborn as he holds another son.
The family man also held his eldest son, Vincent Jr., outside their Bronx home while looking every bit the fledgling wiseguy in a tracksuit, V-neck T-shirt and Tony Manero "Saturday Night Fever" hairstyle.

WARM DAD A COLD SLAYER: Vinny Basciano with then-wife and kids.

The pictures -- which stand in stark contrast to Basciano's brutal underworld killings -- were on full display yesterday in Brooklyn federal court as a relative and a former employee, in an attempt to spare Basciano's life in the death-penalty phase of the convicted wiseguy's murder trial, described the cold-blooded Bonanno boss as loving, generous and considerate.
Another photograph shows Basciano -- who was convicted last month for ordering from behind bars the rubout of Bonanno associate Randy Pizzolo -- as a young boy mugging for the camera.
Basciano, whose wild mop-top hairstyle in that shot is a far cry from the perfectly coiffed cut he would don as a don -- has his eyes closed and is puckering his lips as one of his admiring younger brothers stands behind him.
The pictures came as Basciano's first cousin, Steven DiCarmine, described him in court as a real family man who would always come to the rescue of those in need.
One of Basciano's female cousins was kicked out of her home by her parents after she got pregnant by a married man, DiCarmine said.
Basciano found her a home in Rockland County and gave her money.
Another witness, Damarys Mojica, worked for Basciano in his "Hello Gorgeous" hair salon in The Bronx.
Mojica said Basciano helped her pay for expensive medical care for her sick son after her husband lost his job.
DiCarmine said that as a child, Basciano shielded his younger brothers from their father's rage.
And Basciano's sons are terrified their father may be put to death and that they love him "100 percent."
"I don't want to imagine when he doesn't exist," DiCarmine said.
Testimony finished yesterday and prosecutors and Basciano's defense lawyers will make closing statements today.